The Trojans Team Season came to and end last night in Burnsville as they would lose to Apple Valley in the Quarterfinals.

It is hard to go through and entire wrestling season without incurring some injuries to your team. The injury bug hit the Trojans at the wrong time of the year. The Matmen going in as the 3 seed would need everyone in the lineup if they had a shot at making it to State.  They would go in short handed with two starters out in Carter Bornholdt and Jay Skogerboe.

The Trojans would win a Quarterfinal matchup with Eastview by the score of 49-19.

The grapplers would come out firing as they usually do,but this dual we would see 8th Grader, Colton Bornholdt, coming off is 9th Grade and Under State title, pick up a pin at 106. Colby Dunkel would follow suit at 113. Joey Novak, wrestling up at 120 would walk away with a major decision. Nick Novak would have his hands full in a tough opponent in Roman Gilbert. Gilbert was ranked in the top 10 much of the year but fell to number 11. Nick would win a hard fought battle 5-3. Team score 19-0. New Prague would drop the next three matches with our guys wrestling up. tough to do at sections. Vaughan would lose by fall, Kajer lost by Major decision and Lofton lost a close 7-5 match, score was now 19-13.

Max Scheffler would get New Prague back on track with a fall at 152. Ethan Gregory would follow that up with a pin at 160.  Alex Gregory would make his varsity debut at 170, wrestling in his first varsity match under sized is tough but Alex battled but ended up getting pinned. That would be all the scoring Eastview would do as Trachte would get a pin, Busch a tech fall, Brennan Rutt would score a nice major victory over a tough opponent in Cedric Warner and Evan Anderson sealed the deal with a decision at 285. Final score 49-19.

Going in short handed with 2 spots in your lineup is nearly impossible when you are facing #5 Apple Valley. New Prague as expected came out with three quick pins by Dunkel, Novak and Novak,  A quick 18-0 lead would dissolve rather quickly as we would be running into the meat of the order for Apple Valley. The next 8 weights would have ranked wrestlers.

Ryan Wagner came out at 126 to wrestle #4 Reagan Schrempp and would lose by fall. #6 Martin Stewart scores at Tech Fall at 132 over Jacob Vaughan, Simon Kajer would face #3 Adam Mickelson at 138 and get pinned. 145 would feature a matchup of top 10 wrestlers in #10 Max Scheffler going up against #3 Sebas Swiggum, Swiggum would catch Scheffler in a cradle and get the pin, bringing the team score to 23-18.

It didn't get any easier for the Trojans as Apple Valley would send out #1 Brady Gross to face 9th grader Jeff Bisek and Gross would score the fall. Tip your hat to Jay Skogerboe as he came out to face Dylan Anderson which would have been a swing match if Jay were healthy, but the shoulder injury was too much and Anderson would get a pin at 160. Ethan Gregory would face #4 Devin Robert and lose by tech fall bring the team score to 40-18. Mathematically the Trojans were still in but needed 3 pins and a major to come back to win it. Jake Trachte would get a nice win at 182 over Michael Mattison , but that would all but close the door on the Trojans. Brennan Rutt came out at 195 and scored a fall bringing the team score to 40-27 but that is as close as they would get.  Will Busch battled hard at 220 but came up short against Tony Anger 7-4 and Evan Anderson would lose by fall to #3 Tyler Kim, final score 49-27.

The Trojans finish the season with an impressive 21-4 record, next week they will be in action at the Individual Sections starting on Friday in Rosemount. We hope to have as many 5-7 individuals competing at the State Tournament this year. Good Luck next week in Rosemount to all the individuals that will be competing.

It has been a great year and we will miss having Brennan Rutt as one of the anchors on this team as he will be graduating as will Bryce Lofton the other Senior in the lineup. That means we will not be losing alot for next year plus we have some young talent coming up so we expect big things next year!

Team Sections get underway on Wednesday as Burnsville and Rosemount will square off to see who will wrestle #1 Shakopee on Friday.

Apple Valley would get the 2 seed and they will face Lakeville North the #7 Seed.

New Prague gets the #3 seed and they will face # 6 seed Eastview on Friday at 4PM at the Burnsville High School.

Lakeville South edges out #  Prior Lake for the #4 seed and they wrestle each other in the quarters.

Friday will be a great day of wrestling.

Go Trojans!

New Prague capped off their regular Season going 4-0 at the Minnetonka Duals to finish the season 20-3!

New Prague would roll through this tournament with big wins!

NP 55-9 over Minnetonka

NP 84-0 over MPLS Roosevelt

NP 53-15 over Mankato West

NP 69-12 over MPLS Washburn

Blue Earth Area did not want to wrestle New Prague so that left the team with a 4-0 Record on the day.

Individual Records

Dunkel 4-0

J Novak 4-0

R Wagner 4-0

N Novak 4-0

J Vaughan 3-1

S. Kajer 2-2

B. Lofton 4-0

M Scheffler 4-0

J Skogerboe 2-1

E Gregory 4-0

M Giesen 2-0

J Trachte 2-0

Brennan Rutt 4-0

W. Busch 3-1

E Anderson 2-2

The Match of the Day was at 113lbs in the Washburn match. Joey Novak #4AAA would lock horns with #7AAA Patrick Lockwood. Joey would not disappoint as he came away with another 3-2 victory, this time in Triple Overtime.

Great Regular Season Guys!

The Young Trojans had a great day on Saturday in Champlin Park at the 9th Grade State Tournament.

Koy Buesgnes, 8th Grade,  Claimed the Championship  over Alan Koehler of Prior Lake at 94lbs.  A rematch of the section finals and Buesgens would prevail with a 5-0 vicotry.

At 100lbs, 8th Grader Colton Bornholdt would be in another rematch of the Section finals vs Leonard Tucklynovich of Shakopee. Bornholdt would win the match 7-2.

Evan Anderson, 9th Grade, would also have a rematch of his section final vs Jade Trelstad of Shakopee. Anderson would win this match the same way he won the section final, a 1-0 decision.

3 Finals that had wrestlers from the same Section....Section 2AAA is the toughest section in the state and it looks like that is not going to end very soon. Shakopee had a total of 9 wrestlers competing and New Prague had 4.  Shakopee would have 1 State Champ and finish the day with 147.0 points. New Prague with an impressive 90 points with 4 wrestlers, Big Lake with 83 points with 7 wrestlers and Kasson-Mantorville with 73.5 points with 4 wrestlers competing. 

Luke Dorweiller also competed and wrestled well losing 2 close matches and finishing in 6th place.

Congratulations to these young men!

Prior to this year, New Prague has only had 4 State Champs at the 9th Grade State tournament, We almost doubled that with these three. I'm already getting excited to see these guys in varsity line up on a consistent basis next year!

The Mat men are Wright County Champions after defeating #6AA Waconia in a Barn Burner in New Prague on Thursday night.

The Trojans would get an electric Start at 106lbs  with Colby Dunkel #4AAA taking on #5AA Tyson Peitz,  Colby would get up early and in the second period picked up a very important pin.

At 113Lbs  Joey Novak #9AAA would have his hands full with Junior Riese White, Joey would score some bonus points getting a huge major decision.

Nick Novak would get a 2nd period pin which was much needed as we knew Waconia was loaded in the middle and had 5 ranked wrestlers to go.

Waconia would try to steal a victory at 126 as they bumped up the 120 pounder to face Jacob Vaughan. That would not work as Vaughan pulled out a 8-7 victory to bring the team score to 19-0.

Simon Kajer would be wrestling another ranked wrestler in #6AA Max McEnelly. McEnelly would prove to be too much and get the fall at 132. Team score was now 19-6.

This next match is where the fireworks started, Bryce Lofton wrestling at 138 was being dominated for 2 1/2 periods and trailing 14-0, Waconia would choose the top position to start the third. That was their first mistake. Bryce would get an escape making 14-1. A take down by Gage Mueller and this match is over. Mueller would get in on  a leg but that is where the unthinkable happened as Bryce would end up catching Mueller in a near side cradle and getting the Pin! Team Score 25-6.

Max Scheffler would come out at 145 and scored a pin in the first period to extend the lead to 31-6.

Waconia would send out their 145 pounder Will Burroughs to wrestle Carter Bornholdt and that move would pay off as Burroughs would stop the bleeding and get the decision victory.

Things would get interesting as the next three wrestlers from Waconia were ranked. At 160 they would send out Mitch Garnatz #9AA to face Jay Skogerboe. Jay would wrestle tough but come up short losing a decision to bring the team score to 31-12.

#1AA Tim Stapleton would come out at 170 to face Ethan Gregory and tip you hat to Ethan as he would wrestle tough but give up the Tech Fall. But that did save the team one point.

Waconia would send out their second #1AA ranked wrestler with Cade Mueller at 182 to face Jake Trachte and just as Ethan did, Jake would not get pinned but would get teched making the team score 31-22.

Brennan Rutt would come at 195 and seal the deal for the Trojans with a Major Decision over Bram Fitzsimonds. That major decision would make it impossible for Waconia to catch the Trojans.

Will Busch would win a close decision over Sam McEnelly to make the team score 38-22.

Evan Anderson would face #5AA Bennett Weber at 285 but Weber was just to big for Evan and Weber would score the fall, bring the final score 38-28. 

New Prague is the Wright County Conference Champs for 2019!

Great Job Team, Congratulations!

Up next will be a home match against Rosemount on Thursday Night.

The New Prague Trojans will send 5 individuals to compete at the 9th grade and under State tournament which will be held in Champlain Park on Feb 2nd.

Those representing New Prague are:

Koy Buesgens 94lbs.

Colton Bornholdt 100lbs.

Evan Farley 106lbs.

Luke Dorweiller 126lbs.

Evan Anderson 285lbs.

Good Luck Guys!

The #6AAA Trojans went into the Orono Invite the heavy favorites and they did not disappoint. They actually wrestled better at most weights than what they were seeded as individuals.

New Prague would run away with the team score with 236 points, 2nd place would go to #12AA Totino Grace with 169, Elk River 135, Dassel-Cokato 120.5 and Mound Westonka 114.5 round out the top 5.

We would have 12 of the 14 wrestlers make the podium of which 10 would win their final match.

 Colby Dunkel was the #1 Seed and he would own up to that seeding going 3-0 and winning the 106lb bracket.

#9AAA ranked Joey Novak would outdo his seeding as he went in as the #3 seed but would knock off the #2 seed in #6AAA Patrick Lockwood 3-2 in the semifinals before losing to #1AA Joey Thompson from Tortion Grace in the finals for a second place finish.

Nick Novak would go 3-0 and claim the championship with a 5-0 defeat of Eddie Simes of Litchfield in the Finals.

Ryan Wagner wrestled unattached and did a great job knocking out a few team points by going 3-1 and finishing in 5th place.

Jacob Vaughan would out do his seeding as he came in as the #4 seed which was the worst seed to get as he would face #1AA Jake Svihel of Totino Grace in the Semifinals. he would go on to lose that match but bounce back with a pin in 3rd Place match.

Simon Kajer had a great tournament as he came in unseeded and knocked off the 4th seed in and the 3rd seed with pins finishing in 3rd place. That pin in third place match landed him a crisp $20 bill from his dad.

Bryce Lofton went 2-2 on the day and finished in 4th place losing a close match to Henry Beck of Orono in the 3rd place match.

Max Scheffler surprised everyone coming in as the 3 seed, Max knocked off the #2 seed in the semis with a Pin before coming away with an 11-0 Victory of Jacob Schmid of Orono who beat the #1 Seed, #6AA Prestin Bradley of Dassal-Cokato.

Carter Bornholdt would go 1-2 and did not place.

At 160 Ethan Gregory came in unseeded but found himself in the finals after scoring 2 pins knocking off the #3 and #2 seed but falling short losing 10-5 in the finals.

Jay Skogerboe had a good tournament going 2-1 and finishing in 3rd place his lone loss was to #5AAA Jacob Meissner of Osseo 5-3.

Jake Trachte had a tough second round match facing #3AAA Ben Schmalz, he would drop that match but come back with a Pin in the 3rd place match.

Brennan Rutt was the number 1 seed at 195 and he would not disappoint. He would get 2 pins and beat #7AA  Garrison Soliday in the finals 9-4. This was Brennan's first Championship for a varsity event in his 5 years of wrestling varsity.

Will Busch had the toughest bracket and came in as the 5 seed and that is where he would end up. He lost to the number 4 seed in the second round but would bounce back with 2 wins for a 5th place finish.

At 285, Carson Bittner would step up and try to get some points for the Trojans but coming in about 50-60 lbs light would be too touch and he went 0-2 on the day but battled hard!

Up next for the Trojans will be tough dual with #6AA Waconia on Thursday night in New Prague!

Go Trojans!

The New Prague Wrestlers continued their great season with a dominating performance over a young Orono team.

New Prague would come out firing as usual getting out to a 38-0 lead after pins by, Colby Dunkel, Joey Novak, Ryan Wagner, Simon Kajer Bryce Lofton, a Tech Fall in the 1st period by Nick Novak and a decision victory by Max Scheffler at 145. New Prague would lose the next two matches to put Orono on the board, 38-7. New Prague would respond with pins by Skogerboe and Trachte. One of the main matches of the night featured a pair of #10 ranked wrestlers in #10AAA Brennan Rutt and #10AA David Wilfert. Rutt would control this entire match and win by a major decision 14-6. Will Busch would have the toughest match of the night going up against #4AA Danny Strigow. He would be too much for Busch as Strigow gets the major decision 17-8. Evan Anderson would come out and get a lead going into the 3rd period but got caught in a scramble and would end up getting pinned bringing the final score to 54-17.

Trojans will be back in action on Saturday as they travel to Orono to take part in the Orono Invitational. This is an individual tournament with teams from, Orono,Totino Grace, Anoka, Benilde, Columbia Heights, Dassel-Cokato, East Ridge, Elk River, Hopkins, Lake Crystal, Litchfield, Mpls.. Edison, Mpls. South, Mpls. Washburn, Maplewood, Osseo, St. Cloud Tech, and St. Thomas Academy.

Go Trojans!

The Trojans headed out east to Greenfield WI. about a 5 and half hour drive from New Prague to compete with some of the best teams from Wisconsin in the Zelinski Memorial Duals. The event is a 16 team event held in Greenfield Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee. Just like what we experienced earlier this year with the weather in Fargo, Mother Nature reared her head with another Winter Storm forcing a few teams to cancel the trip. Most Notably the #1 ranked team in Wisconsin, Stoughton. Jaynesville Parker was another team that would not make the trip. The Tournament was reduced to a 12 team event.

The Trojans would win easily in their 4 team pool round robin.  They defeated Franklin by the score of 70-6, Green Bay Preble 62-12 and Whitnall-Greendale 70-3.

That would put us it the Championship Bracket with #2 Ranked Mukwonago and #10 Waunakee. New Prague would wrestle Mukwonago tough and actually win 7 of the 14 matches but the bonus points were the difference and the Trojans would fall short 38-25. This is the same team that beat #1AAA Shakopee earlier this year.

New Prague would bounce back and handle Waunakee rather easily and coming away with a lopsided 46-24 victory.

The boys battled hard all day wrestling 5 duals over the course of the day.

Individual records:

Colby Dunkel 5-0

Joey Novak 5-0

Nick Novak 5-0

Jacob Vaughan 3-2

Simon Kajer 2-3

Bryce Lofton 3-2

Max Scheffler 5-0

Carter Bornholdt 4-1

Ethan Gregory 3-2

Jay Skogerboe 4-1

Jake Trachte 3-2

Brennan Rutt 5-0

Will Busch 4-1

Evan Anderson 2-3

They will be in action again on Thursday,hosting Orono and this will be Senior Night.

The wrestlers improved to 9-2 on Thursday night with a 55-16 victory over Delano on Thursday night.

For the first time since 2012,  the Trojans claimed the Hwy 13 Rumble sign. This tradition is in its 12th year and this is only the 2nd time the Trojans have beat the Prior Lake Lakers for the sign. 

The Trojans came out firing early with a big match-up at 106lbs. #4AAA Colby Dunkel faced #8AAA Teagan Block and came away with a 8-2 decision victory. That would set the tone on how the night would go for the Trojans. Joey Novak who moved up in the rankings to #9AAA at 113lbs would get a 1st period pin to bring the score to 9-0. Nick Novak #3AAA would  face a familiar opponent in Cory St.Martin. Novak would come away with a 15-0 Tech fall. Jacob Vaughan made weight and wrestled to a 3-2 victory at 126lbs.

At 132lbs we would see another match we have seen over the last few years with Simon Kajer facing Chase Bloomquist. This is always a close match but yet again Bloomquist came away with a 6-3 decision to put Prior Lake on the board bring the team score to 17-3.

New Prague would rattle off the next 6 matches with victories ,Bryce Lofton controlling his match with a 7-1 victory. Max Scheffler got a pin to make the score 26-3. Prior Lake would bump up their next few wrestlers but that stategy would backfire as Carter Bornholdt would get a nice 8-6 victory over Colton Sund. Ethan Gregory would win a close one 9-8. Jay Skogerboe and Jake Trachte would get pins to bring the score to 38-3. 

Another key match-up for the night was at 195lbs. #10AAA Brennan Rutt would have his work cut out for him in facing #1AAA Calvin Sund. Rutt was holding his own and almost caught Sund on hos back twice but the #1 ranked guy battled through it. Sund would end up getting a late 3rd period pin but Rutt wrestled with grit. Team score was now at 38-9. Will Busch continues his great season and scored a fall.

That brought us to 285 and with the match out of reach, New Prague would send out an undersized 9th Grader in Evan Anderson, he would be facing a bigger guy in Senior TJ Gosnor.  Anderson would not disappoint and capped the night off with yet another pin! It was a great night of wrestling with New Prague winning in a rout 56-9!

Up next for the Trojans,they will be at Delano on Thursday Jan. 17th.

The Annual Hwy 13 Battle will be held in New Prague this year. This event features all levels of wrestling starting with the Middle School at 4;30. The Travelling youth team will wrestle at 5;30, JV at 6;30 and then Varsity at 7:30 under the lamp!

We hope to see you there!

The Mat Men travelled to Montgomery to take part in the TCU Invite which had 8 Teams. New Prague was the top rated team at #6AAA. The Trojans came away with the Team Championship with a score of 238 points, second place was Plainview-Elgin-Millville with 215.5 points and host TCU in third with 202 points.

The Trojans had 4 individual champions. Colby Dunkel was the #1 Seed at 106lbs and he came away with a 5-0 victory over the #2 seed in Colton Bornholdt also from New Prague. That was Bornholdt first loss of the season. Needless to say, we are very strong in our lower weight classes.

Joey Novak was the #1 seed at 113lbs and came away with the Championship with a Tech Fall over Cole Franek from TCU.

Another #1 Seed was #3AAA Nick Novak at 120lbs. The Championship match was going to be a good one with #7AA Senior Nick Johnson from TCU. Novak would control the entire match and get a major decision victory 9-1.

Ryan Wagner was wrestling unattached and came away with a 5th Place finish going 2-2.

126lbs was open for the Trojans with Jacob Vaughan not making weight.

Simon Kajer had a nice tournament, he had to wrestle the #2 seed Trayton Hewitt from Lake Crystal/Welcome Memorial. Kajer would end of getting pinned in that 1st match. Simon would come back with 2 victories to get him to the 3rd place match against Hewitt. This time the tables were turned and Kajer ended up getting a second period pin to place 3rd.

Bryce Lofton made his season debut after being out with a shoulder injury. Bryce was not 100% as he was a little under the weather but battled through it and placed 3rd. He went 3-1 on the day.

Max Scheffler came in as the number #2 seed and made it to the Championship match against the #1 seed Noah Parish #7AA  from Mankato East. Scheffler would suffer a back issue and had to Medical forfeit the match placing 2nd. Let's hope the back issue will not linger.

Carter Bornholdt went 2-2 on the day placing 4th. Bornholdt had a nice victory over Adam Fredrickson from TCU.

Ethan Gregory came into the tournament as the #2 seed behind #10AA Carter Marx from PEM. Marx was too much for Gregory and would get the pin but a nice 2nd place finish for Ethan.

Jay Skogerboe would come in as the #1 Seed at 170lbs and would make it to the finals against the #3 Seed Steve Miller from TCU. Miller would end up beating Skogerboe in a close match 8-6.

182 Pounder Jake Trachte came in as the 3 seed and that is how he would end in the tournament. Jake would lose to the # 2 Seed #8AA Kolin Baird but come back to win the 3rd place match going 3-1 on the day.

Brennan Rutt #10AAA came in as the #2 Seed behind Dustin Dittrich #2AA. Rutt would cruise to the Championship match but Dittrich was too much to handle and Brennan would go 2-1 for a 2nd place finish.

Will Busch continues his great season and improved to 14-4 on the year with a 3-0 day and the Championship at 220. Busch knocked off Riley Wigert #4AA from PEM. Busch will be wrestling a little under sized the rest of the year with Rutt getting down to wrestle at 195.

Freshman Evan Anderson had a nice day on the mat at 285 going 2-2  and getting a pin over the #2 Seed Reiley Fleming from Mankato East.

Nice Job Trojans!

The weather forced the wrestling team to drop out of The Rumble On the Red, one of the Toughest High School Tournament in the country this past weekend.

New Prague was lucky enough to be a last minute addition to the Bi-State Classic in La Crosse WI. This tournament features a lot of the top ranked teams in Wisconsin and an handful of Minnesota's top teams.

The Trojans would be going up against some of the best teams in Wisconsin with a total of 10 teams in top 10 and 6 teams from Minnesota's top rankings.

The Trojans would finish the Tournament in 10th place out of 69 teams. The grapplers did not go into the tournament with a full squad as they had openings at 138lbs and at 285.

Team Scores

Stoughton #1 Div 1                         356.0

Stratford #1 Div 3                            299.5

Stillwater #8AAA                             280.5

Marshfield #7 Div 1                        261.0

Luxemborg-Casco #3 Div 2        214.5

Waunakee #10 Div 1                      212.0

Holmen #2 Div 1                               211.5

Pulaski #8 Div 1                                211.5

Hastings #15 AAA                          193.0

New Prague #6AAA                      182.5

The Trojans would have 5 guys make the podium.

Colby Dunkel had a great tournament ending up in 5th place. Dunkel would make to the Semifinals before losing to the eventual Champion, Nicolar Rivera ranked #6 in the country. Dunkel was 4-2.

Joey Novak continues his great season as an 8th grader with a 10th place finish going 3-3.

Nick Novak avenged his only loss in the tournament with a nice 9-4 victory over the #2 ranked Lucas Joniaux in the 3rd place match. Novak lost a close one in the Quarterfinals 4-3. Nick was 6-1.

Max Scheffler lost a close one 4-3 on a last second takedown  and finished in 6th Place, Max was 4-3.

Brennan Rutt finished in 7th place with a nice tech fall to cap of his tournament and finished with a 5-2 record.

Other Wrestlers competing

Jacob Vaughan cut down to 126lbs after wrestling 145/138 as a fill in earlier in the year. He had a nice first round victory 6-4 over the #15 Seed. He would end up going 2-2.

Simon Kajer had a nice tournament and had 2 late match points and just missed the podium losing in the blood round going 4-2.

Carter Bornholdt was the center of attention in the second round as he was tasked with going up against the #1 seed. Carter was trailing by the score of 12-0 late in the 3rd when his opponent was going for another tilt to get an additional 3 back points to make it a tech fall. But he got too close to the mat with both of his shoulders and the Ref called the pin in favor of Bornholdt. It was only later overturned just before the next round was supposed to start. Coach Wagner was arguing the reversal but to not avail. Bornholdt ended up going 0-2

Ethan Gregory  had a pin in his second match and went 1-2.

Jay Skogerboe continues his good season just missing the podium going 4-2.

Jake Trachte was another wrestler going 4-2 and  just missing the podium too.

Will Busch bumped up to 220 with Brennan Rutt dropping to 195. Will went 1-2  on the day. It was a good tournament for will giving up at least 25lbs to his opponents.

New Prague will be back in action on Saturday Jan. 5th at the TCU Invite.

Happy New Year!

Go Trojans!

The Trojans were ready to head up Fargo to Compete in the Rumble on the Red this weekend, but Mother Nature had to show up and the School District decided against driving up there with inclement weather.

Coach Dan Wagner was able to get us in another good tournament but this one will be in La Crosse Wisconsin, The Bi-State Classic. Wrestling will start at 9:30 on Friday and conclude with the Championship Matches at 5:30 on Saturday night.

This is a Varsity Tournament only and New Prague will have 12 of the 14 Weight Classes filled.

If you would like to follow the wrestlers you can go to www.trackwrestling.com and search Bi State Classic.

Go Trojans!

The Trojans jumped up in the rankings to #6AAA. Coach Wagner and his staff has their team heading in the right direction as we go into the New Year.

Individual Rankings

106lbs. Colby Dunkel #4

113lbs. Joey Novak #10

120lbs. Nick Novak #3

152lbs. Max Scheffler #9

195lbs. Brennan Rutt #10

The Trojans look to head into the New Year with a full squad to continue their great season!

Go Trojans!

The Trojans had an easy time with two Class A Schools on Tuesday.

The Trojans opened up against a Lean and Mean Blue Earth Area team and as they are accustomed got out to a big league early. Colton Bornholdt continues his great season with a Pin at 106 to improve to 6-0. Evan Farley, another 8th grader picked up his first varsity win at 113lbs with a pin. Joey Novak continues his dominance wrestling up at 120 and coming away with a 3-0 win over a solid wrestler in Davis Sunken. Nick Novak remains unbeaten with a  decision victory at 126. New Prague would drop the next three matches with guys wrestling up and two guys still out with injuries. Jacob Vaughan is nursing a strained LCL and Bryce Lofton still out with a shoulder injury. Dorweiler, Wagner and Kajer all went up in weight classes, the team score was at 18-16.

Max Scheffler got New Prague back on the right track with a 12-4 major at 152, Ethan Gregory got back in the win column with a pin at 160LBs.  New Prague would win out with victories by Skogeboe, Trachte , Busch, Rutt and a nice 2-0 victory by Evan Anderson at 285 to end the Team score 49-16.

LeSueur/Henderson came in short handed and New Prague was way too much for them. LS/H only had 6 wrestlers in the line up. New Prague would win this one buy the score of 65-6.

Season Records of the top wrestlers.

Colby Dunkel 10-1

Colton Bornholdt 6-0

Joe Novak 13-0

Nick Novak 13-0

Max Scheffler 7-2

Jay Skogerboe 9-4

Jake Trachte 11-3

Will Busch 10-2

Brennan Rutt 12-1

Look for New Prague to move up in the rankings when they come out on Friday!

Up next will be the Rumble on the Red in Fargo ND next  Friday and Saturday!

Go Trojans!

The Trojans went in a little short handed to this individual tournament with open weight at 138 and 285. The mat men wrestled well and came in 2nd Place.

Team Scores

Northfield 211.5

New Prague 177.5

Lakeville South 122.5

Mankato East 113.5

Mahtomedi 106

The Trojans had 4 Champions on the day and 5 others placed in the top 6.

Colton Bornholdt won the 106LB weight class as Colby Dunkel was DQ's for a slam against his semifinal opponent sending him to the 3rd place match.

Joey Novak wrestled a great tournament and in the finals beat #3AAA Chase Murphy in a last second reversal at 113lb.

Nick Novak was the Champ at 120lbs

Will Busch continues his great season with a 1st place finish at 195.

Max Scheffler and Brennan Rutt took home second place.

Colby Dunkel finished 3rd.

Jake Trachte finished 5th at 182.

Jay Skogerboe finished 6th at 170.

The Trojans will be back in action on Thursday night with a  Home Triangular with Le Sueur and Blue Earth Area.

Nice Job Trojans!

What was expected to be a close match with Hutchinson was an understatement. The #7AAA ranked Trojans came out firing again at the low weights as expected. Colton Bornholdt an 8th Grader made his varsity debut at 106lbs. I'd day it was as nice start to his varsity career with an 18-3 Tech Fall. #6 rank Dunkel jumped up to 113 and came away with a 15-0 Tech Fall. The Novak brothers continued their unbeaten season each now 7-0 on the year after pins at 120 by Joey and Nick at 126. That made the team score 22-0 after 4 matches.

As we are used to seeing big leads tend to slip a away in the middle rounds because we are short handed at the next few weights, but tonight was different. We had two of our starters back at 145 and 152 in Scheffler and Bornholdt. Luke Dorwieler bumped up to 132 to face a tough wrestler in Tristin Lang, Dorweiler lost by fall in the second but was wrestling hard the whole match. Simon Kajer went up a weight class and took on a bigger guy in Payton Jepson. Kajer would come out firing and get an 8-0 lead after the first period. IF you thought there was a lot of scoring in the first period, you didn't see anything as the match ended with Kajer losing a close one 21-16. Simon did a great job twice fighting off his back not to get pinned and save the team some points.

The 145lb match paired a couple of Ranked guys with Scheffler ranked #9AAA going up against #4AA  Tucker Gifferson. This one was a close match but Scheffler would lose 6-4. Carter Bornholdt making his season debut after sitting out with an injury went up against a ranked wrestler in Tate Card #7AA at 152lbs. This too was a close match with Card coming out on top 5-1. Ethan Gregory wrestled a close match too but would lose 7-6 bringing the team score to 22-18. Things were looking bleak for the Trojans as the next 3 of 4 wrestlers were ranked. Jay Skogerboe stepped on the mat to take on #8AA Jordan Stenzel. Stenzel came out and gave Jay a rather hard slap to the head and that seemed to trigger Jay and he came away with the match of the night with a 10-9 upset victory. The Trojans would finish strong on the night and some great coaching moves by Dan Wagner would pay off.

Jake Trachte wrestled a great match at 182 for the 7-1 victory putting the Trojans up 28-18. The tough decision now was how are we going to get through the next couple of matches. Hutch was sending out two ranked wrestlers in Christian Kurth at 195 and Cody Kurth at 220, both ranked 6th in AA. Hutch had to declare their wrestler first and they chose Christian Kurth. Coach Wagner made a great decision and forfeited that match to concede the 6 points but have his two bigs close this one out. Stepping up to wrestle Cody Kurth at 220 was Will Busch. Busch wrestled with a lot of heart and grit but came up short losing 10-6. Busch was giving up about 26lbs for that match.  That brought the score to 28-27 with Senior Captain Brennan Rutt coming out to seal the deal. Rutt is ranked #5 at 195lbs but has been wrestling 220 the early part of the season. As senior captains should do, Rutt came out and put the finishing touches on what was a great dual with a second period pin.

A great night of wrestling and a big win for the Trojans. They are now 5-2 on the year in duals and will be wrestling in an individual tournament on Saturday in Northfield.

New Prague moved up in the team rankings with their win over Anoka and improved their dual record to 4-2.

Colby Dunkel remains ranked but this week at #6 at 106lbs.

Joey Novak #10 at 113lbs.

Nick Novak   #3  at 120lbs.

Max Scheffler  #9 at 152lbs.

Brennan Rutt #5 at 195lbs.

Go Trojans!

New Prague improves their season record to 4-2 with victories over Rochester John Marshall and Tri-City United.

New Prague rolled over Rochester John Marshall with a 73-6 rout. Everyone wrestled pretty well for the Trojans in what was a relatively easy match for them.

The second dual of the night under the lights was a little closer than anticipated. New Prague came our firing as usual with a pin by Joey Novak at 106lbs, a tech fall by Dunkel and another pin by Nick Novak to give the Trojans a 17-0 lead. The tides were turned over the next four matches with TCU taking all four.  TCU bumped up their 120 pounder #10AA Nick Johnson to 126lbs and he came away with a pin over Dorweiller. At 132lbs, Ryan Wagner got caught in a lateral drop and pinned by Caleb Whipps. Another surprising match had Simon Kajer getting caught in a cradle for another TCU pin and at 145, Jacob Vaughan seemed to shut down and had no offense losing 4-0. That brought the team score to 21-17 TCU. New Prague would recover and win the next six matches. Max Scheffler, #9 152AAA  made his season debut and came away with a nice major victory 20-8. Ethan Gregory picked up a decision at 160. Jay Skogerboe pinned Riley O'Malley at 170.  Jake Trachte had a decision win at 182, at 195, Will Busch continued his winning ways with a hard fought 3-1 victory over Tyler Schroer. Senior captain Brennan Rutt continued his perfect season with a pin over Sam  Miller. New Prague would drop the 285lb match and the final score was New Prague 42-TCU 27.

The New Prague Trojans hosted a few powerhouses at the New Prague Invite, which was held on Saturday. New Prague welcomed #2AA Simley, #7AAA Anoka and Eden Prairie .

New Prague started the morning off with a dual against Eden Prairie. The Trojans jumped out to a 18-0 lead after three matches with pins by Joey Novak, Colby Dunkel and Nick Novak. Simon Kajer, Jay Skogerboe, Jake Trachte, Will Busch, Brennan Rutt and Evan Anderson, all picked up victories. The Final score was 47-26.

New Prague would then face arguably one of the best teams in the stat,  Simley,  I think I'm seeing a trend here, as New Prague jumped out to an early lead with a pin at 106 from Dunkel, a decision win by Joey Novak at 113 and a pin by Nick Novak at 120. 15-0 was the score but then the Trojans ran into why Simley is ranked #2. The next six wrestlers are all ranked in the top 4.  5 straight pins including one from former New Prague wrestler Cael Berg, currently ranked #1 at 138. New Prague would stop the bleeding at 220 with a pin by Brennan Rutt and a great pin by Evan Anderson at 285. That brought the final score 44-27.

New Prague finished the day with #7AAA Anoka, again the Trojans were able to jump out to a quick lead with a surprising pin in the 106 match that had two top 10 wrestlers battling. Colby Dunkel ranked #6AAA at 113 pinned #7AAA at 106 Brendan Howes. Joey Novak continued his perfect season with a decision win over Brad Howes. Nick Novak improved his record to 4-0 with a decision over Carter Ban at 120.  Anoka would get the next three victories tying the match at 13. One of the pivotal matches occurred at 145, where Jacob Vaughan was filling in for Max Scheffler. Vaughan wrestled tough and even frustrated the Senior Tyler Young, to cause Anoka to lose a team point. Vaughan came away with a 7-6 victory, his first of the year. New Prague would drop the next two matches by forfeit and pin. Anoka would take a 25-16 lead into 170lbs.  The Trojans rattled off 5 straight wins the biggest being a pin by Brennan Rutt that actually put the meet out of reach. Evan Anderson was wrestling a good match when he made a mistake in the third period to lose by a fall.

Final score New Prague 31-30, the one point penalty after the 145 match was the difference. New Prague improves to 2-2 on the season.

Up next for the Trojans, we will be hosting TCU on Thursday night with varsity starting at 7PM.

The grapplers came out fighting in the first weight classes with nice victories. Joey Novak an 8th grader, recorded his first varsity victory with a decision over Zach Tracy at 106. Colby Dunkel continued with a major decision win over Tory Pumper. #3AAA  Nick Novak  at 120 had an impressive pin over Ashton Holbrook to make the score 13-0. But the tides would turn over the next several matches. 9th grader Luke Dorweiler made is varsity debut and actually wrestled pretty well against a strong Colton Bahr. Luke was in a close match but made a few mistakes late and gave the major decision to Bahr.  Simon Kajer had a tough opponent in #5AA Justin Stauffaucher at 132. Stauffaucher came away with a pin. The Trojans were missing three starters in the next three weight classes and it was a touch task for the fill ins starting with Ryan Wagner, who was wrestling for the injured Bryce Lofton. His opponent was #2AA ranked Tyler Shackle, a 2nd period pin made the score, 16-13 Scott West. At 145lbs #8AAA ranked Max Scheffler was out of the lineup which put an undersized Jacob Vaughan up against Jack Forgarty, which ended in a major decision for Forgarty. At 152lbs, New Prague was with out Carter Bornholdt with and injury, so 9th grader Jeff Bisek got his first varsity match against Colton Kerkow. Kerkow was too much and recorded a Tech fall.

New Prague was looking to get some matches back starting with Ethan Gregory at 160lbs, but he ran into #8AA Jace Demmers, Demmers came away with a major decision. At 170lbs, Jay Skogerboe lost a close match to Jeffrey Kasper. at 182lbs, Jake Trachte faced off against #10AA Jon Huss, Huss got out to a 7-1 lead and int he 3rd Trachte tried a big move an was caught by Huss for the pin. That brought the score out of reach of for the Trojans with the score 38-13. Will Busch scored a nice decision win over Trent Rasmussen. The lone senior in the line up for the Trojans was Brennan Rutt #6AAA at 195. Brennan came away with a pin over Hunter Stuffert. With the match out of reach coach Wagner decided not to throw 9th Grader Evan Anderson out to face #4AA Calvin Menke. The final score was 44-22.

The matmen are back in action tomorrow as they will be hosting the New Prague Invite. Teams that will be in town are #2AA Simley, #7AAA Anoka, Eden Prairie and United South Central.

New Prague will start wrestling around 10AM.

New Prague Wrestlers will be representing a few teams at the National Middle School Duals held in Toledo, Ohio this weekend. Wrestling for Pinnacle will be Joey Novak 105lbs, Colton Bornholdt, 100lbs, and Koy Buesgens, 90lbs. Lawson Eller will be wrestling for Wayzata Wrestling Club at 75lbs.

Representing New Prague were sophomore Nick Novak, 8th graders Joey Novak, Colton Bornholdt, Evan Farley, and Koy Buesgens, as well as sixth grader Lawson Eller.  Nick Novak wrestled in the 120 pound weight class. He finished the tournament with a record of 5-3 and finished in 8th place. Colton Bornholt competed in the 7th and 8th grade 98 pound bracket and came up one one match shy of placing.  He went 5-2 losing in OT in the “blood round”. Joey Novak competed in the 7th and 8th grade 105 pound bracket. Joey went 5-2 on his way to a 4th place finish. Also competing in the 7-8 105 pound bracket was Evan Farley. Farley battled hard and ended the day with a 1-2 record.  Rounding up the middle school kids was Lawson Eller wrestling in the 5th/6th grade 75 pound bracket. Eller ended the tournament 2-2 falling just short and losing his final match in OT. I’m beyond impressed with our kids willingness to go out and find the best competition in the country.  NP Trojans don’t back down!

Coach Wagner

November 29 @ Scott West

December 1  NP Invite (Anoka, Eden Prairie, Simley, USC)

December 6  Triangular (TCU, _______)  (Home)

December 13  @ Hutchinson

December 15  Northfield Invitational (NF, Henry Sibley, CF, Faribault, Lake City, Lakeville S., Mahtomedi, ME, Park, Roch Century, Rosemount, St. Charles, SSP, WEM/JWP)

December 18 Triangular (BEA, LeSueur)  (Home)

December 28-29 Rumble on the Red

January 5  TCU Invitational (TCU, LSH, PEM, ME, Triton, St. Clair)

January 11  HWY 13 Battle  (Home)

January 17  @ Delano

January 19  Zelinski Memorial @ Whitnall High School (Greenfield WI)

January 24  Orono (home)

January 26  Orono Invitational (Orono, Anoka, BSM, C. Heights, DC, East Ridge, Elk River, Hopkins, LCWM, Litchfield, Minn Edison, Minn South, Minn Washburn, MW, Osseo, St. Cloud Tech, St. Thomas Academy)

January 31  Waconia (Home)

February 7 Rosemount (Home)  

February 9 Minnetonka Duals

February 13 Opening round of team sections

February 15 Team Sections (Burnsville HS)

February 22-23 Individual Sections (Rosemount HS)

February 28-March 2  MSHSL State Tournament (St. Paul)

THE FUTURE IS LOOKING BRIGHT!